Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who Is the Fairest One of All?

Reviews the book, Social Comparison and Social Psychology: Understanding Cognition, Intergroup Relations, and Culture edited by Serge Guimond (see record 2006-04288-000). This book may be regarded as a companion volume to The Self in Social Judgment. The two volumes are edited, the chapters are written by and for social psychologists, and the contributors summarize and analyze their own extensive research in social cognition in a systematic attempt to compare how well competing theories account for the research findings. The former volume emphasized the self; the latter, self-comparison. Both volumes represent the cutting edge of experimental research on these constructs, and both are designed for advanced graduate students and researchers in the field. Part 1 deals with social comparison occurring within and between individuals, and this topic was by and large the major thrust of research when it first initiated what has been called the cognitive revolution in social psychology. Part 2 deals with social comparison within and between groups; Part 3, within and across cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)